by Kiran Nirvan
As Commanding Officer of the unit I hold in the highest regard the unsurpassed devotion and dedication of the martyrs of the unit who from time to time have taught us the sole purpose of each man in uniform and at this juncture, I express gratitude to all soldiers and veterans and the brave Sikh troops who have always overwhelmed me with their unmatched loyalty and fondness towards the unit. I shall forever feel privileged for the responsibility bestowed upon me as a Commanding Officer of the battalion with such glorious history of achievements.
~
Below is a letter from a young officer currently serving in 4th Battalion, The Sikh Regiment:
With ‘passing out’ coming closer in the academy, every cadet’s uneasiness starts swirling up. Which arm would I get into? Would I get the regiment of my choice? How would the officers in my unit be? These are only some of the questions that pop up while passing out edges closer, and I was no exception to this rule. When the day of declassification came and I was told that 4 Sikh would be my unit, I was elated to know that I had got the regiment I chose. The first thing I was told that night was to read about the Battle of Saragarhi. The more I read about how the 21 Sikhs of the 36th had fought 10,000 Afghans, the more proud I felt at having been selected to serve in 4 Sikh. They showcased both mental courage and the warrior code of the Khalsa by choosing to fight until their deaths, and displayed the highest standards of physical courage by successfully defending waves of enemy combatants for several hours. Their feat quickly spread like a firestorm and they were all awarded the Indian Order of Merit, which was the highest medal given for military exploits to Indian soldiers at the time.
The Battle of Saragarhi was not the only battle in which the 36th Sikhs proved their mettle; they have done so whenever and wherever they were given the chance. The battalion has earned 22 Battle Honours and 4 Theatre Honours till date. In WW-I, the battalion was first sent to China, becoming the first Sikh battalion to be deployed in our neighbouring country. There, the battalion fought in the Siege of Tsing Tao against Germany along with the Japanese Imperial Army. From there, the unit moved to Mesopotamia, where it fought one of the bloodiest battles against the Turks in Mesopotamia and Hai. In the Battle of Hai, 83 per cent of the battalion was martyred, and the battalion was awarded battle honours for both the battles.
In between WW I and WW II, the battalion moved to different stations for training and performed well in many competitions. It was renamed the 4th battalion of the 11th Sikh regiment in the 1922 reforms. In WW II, the battalion moved to Egypt where it fought against Italian and German forces. From there, it was sent to Italy, where it was deployed in the Gothic Lines fighting against both German and Italian forces. The battalion stayed in Italy after the world war was over until 1946.
After Independence, the battalion was renamed the 4th battalion of the Sikh Regiment. Later, the battalion got the chance to prove its mettle again in Walong in the 1962 Indo-China War. China used waves after waves of their army to capture the area but here also, just like Saragarhi, determined men with the blessings of the martyrs fought until the last round. A sepoy in the unit named Kewal Singh showed mettle similar to the bravado of the Saragarhi warriors when he dashed out of his bunker after his ammunition ran out, and fought and killed eight enemies singlehandedly with a bayonet and his bare hands. He was awarded the Mahavir Chakra for this act of valour. After an intense battle that spanned 25 days, the battalion was told to retreat, to the utter dismay of officers and men.
The next opportunity to fight was bestowed upon the battalion in Pakistan. It was 7 September 1965 when the unit received orders to advance to Lahore, clearing all oppositions en route along the Khalra–Lahore road. It started with the capture of a few border outposts. On 8 September, the unit was told to advance for the town of Barki and the Ichhogil Canal Bridge. Barki was heavily fortified by pill boxes and anti tank guns. The attack started at 20.00 hrs on 10 September and Barki was captured by 21.30 hrs. Here, again, the battalion earned its name as, in another brave act, Subedar Ajit Singh was assigned to destroy a gun emplacement of the enemy which he did singlehandedly despite being hit by a burst of bullets by the gun emplacement. He was awarded the Mahavir Chakra posthumously for his bravery and courage.
In 1971, the battalion was in the Eastern Front and was ordered to capture Siramani. However, before that could happen, it had to capture three other villages – Makapur, Chaugacha and Burinda. At the end, the battalion was awarded three Vir Chakras and the battle honour of Siramani. In fact, the battalion is also credited with the shooting down of a Pakistan Air Force Sabre by an LMG. The enemy pilot ejected and was captured, only to be released later. That pilot, Flight Lieutenant Pervez Mehdi, went on to become the 8th Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force.
India has not been at full-fledged war since 1971 but 4 Sikh (36th) has still remained at the top and has continued to honour those brave 21 – a tradition that had started on 12 September 1897. In fact, during the battalion’s United Nations tenure it was deployed in Lebanon, and despite the continuous disturbances in the area and advice of hierarchy to move out, the battalion did not back down an inch. It not only stayed true to its moral code but also to the UN Peacekeeping Forces’. It was awarded UNFIL citation for its bravery.
Be it any time or any circumstance, the stand taken in Saragarhi will always be in the hearts of the unit’s soldiers, and will continue to be so for its future legatees as well. Being in the unit and reading its history, it is amply clear to me as a young officer that it was my luck to have been commissioned in the 36th and I shall forever strive to live up to the standards set by the battalion.
‘Bole so nihaal, sat shri akal!’
Appendix
The following details the force level of the Tirah Campaign, commanded by General Sir William Stephen Alexander Lockhart. K.C.B, K.C.S.I.
First Division, commanded by Brigadier-General William Penn Symons, C.B.
First Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General R.C. Hart, V.C., C.B.
2nd Battalion The Derbyshire Regiment
1st Battalion The Devonshire Regiment
2nd/1st Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment
30th (Punjab) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
No. 6 British Field Hospital
No 34 Native Field Hospital
Second Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General A. Gaselee, C.B.
2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment
1st Battalion Royal West Surrey Regiment
2nd Battalion 4th Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment
3rd Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
Sections A and B of No. 8 British Field Hospital
Sections A and C of No. 14 British Field Hospital
No. 51 Native Hospital
Divisional Troops (First Division)
No. 1 Mountain Battery, Royal Artillery
No. 2 (Derajat) Mountain Battery
No. 1 (Kohat) Mountain Battery
Two Squadrons, 18th Regiment of Bengal Lancers
28th Regiment of Bombay Infantry (Pioneers)
No. 3 Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners
No. 4 Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners
One Printing Section from the Bombay Sappers and Miners
The Nabha Regiment of Imperial Service Infantry
The Maler Kotla Imperial Service Sappers
Section A of No. 13 British Field Hospital
No. 63 Native Field Hospital
Second Division, commanded by Major General A.G. Yeatman-Biggs, C.B.
Third Brigade, commanded by Colonel F.J. Kempster, D.S.O, A.D.C.
1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders
1st Battalion The Dorsetshire Regiment
1st Battalion 2nd Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment
15th (The Ludhiana Sikh) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
No. 24 British Field Hospital
No. 44 Native Field Hospital
Fourth Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General R. Westmacott, C.B, D.S.O.
2nd Battalion
The King’s own Scottish Borderers
1st Battalion The Northamptonshire Regiment
1st Battalion 3rd Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment
36th (Sikh) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
Sections C and D of No. 9 Field Hospital
Sections A and B of No. 23 British Field Hospital
No. 48 Native Field Hospital
Divisional Troops
No. 8 Mountain Battery, Royal Artillery
No. 9 Mountain Battery, Royal Artillery
No. 5 (Bombay) Mountain Battery
Machine Gun Detachment, 16th Lancers
Two Squadrons 18th Regiment of Bengal Lancers
21st Regiment of Madras Infantry (Pioneers)
No. 4 Company, Madras Sappers And Miners
One Printing Section from The Madras Sappers and Miners
The Jhind Regiment of Imperial Service Infantry
The Sirmur Imperial Service Sappers
Section B of No. 13 British Field Hospital
No. 43 Native Field Hospital
Line of Communications, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir A.P. Palmer, K.C.B.
No. 1 Kashmir Mountain Battery
22nd (Punjab) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
2nd Battalion, 2nd Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment
39th (Gurhwal Rifle) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
2nd Regiment of Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
3rd Regiment of Bengal Cavalry
18th Regiment, Bengal Lancers
No. 1 Company, Bengal Sappers and Miners
No. 42 Native Field Hospital
No. 52 Native Field Hospital
The Jeypore Imperial Service Transport Corps
The Gwalior Imperial Service Transport Corps
Ordnance Field Park
Engineer Field Park
British General Hospital, of 500 beds, at Rawalpindi
Native General Hospital, of 500 beds, at Rawalpindi
No. 1 Field Medical Store Depot
No. 2 Field Medical Store Depot
No. 5 Veterinary Field Hospital
No. 11 British Field Hospital
No. 25 British Field Hospital
No. 47 Native Field Hospital
No. 64 Native Field Hospital
The Peshawar Column, commanded by Brigadier-General A.G. Hammond, C.B, D.S.O, V.C, A.D.C.
2nd Battalion, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire Light Infantry
9th Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
34th Pioneers
45th (Rattray’s Sikh) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
57th Field Battery, Royal Artillery
No. 3 Mountain Battery, Royal Artillery
9th Regiment of Bengal Lancers
No. 5 Company, Bengal Sappers and Miners
No. 5 British Field Hospital
No. 45 Native Field Hospital, A and B Sections
British General Hospital, of 250 beds, at Nowshera
Native General Hospital, of 500 beds, at Nowshera
The Kurram Movable Column, commanded by Colonel W. Hill, Indian Staff Corps
12th (Khelat-i-Ghilzai) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
1st Battalion, 5th Gurkha Rifles
The Kapurthala Regiment of Imperial Service Infantry
3rd Field Battery, Royal Artillery
6th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry
One Regiment of Central India Horse
Section D of No. 3 British Field Hospital
No. 62 Native Field Hospital
Section B of No. 46 Native Field Hospital
Native General Hospital, of 200 beds, at Kohat
The Rawalpindi Reserve Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General C.R. MacGregor, D.S.O.
2nd Battalion, The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
1st Battalion, The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry
27th Regiment (1st Baluch Battalion) of Bombay (Light) Infantry
2nd Regiment of Infantry, Hyderabad Contingent
Jodhpur Imperial Service Lancers
No. 12 British Field Hospital
No. 53 Native Field Hospital
Acknowledgements
Nirvan Singh
I find this part of a book hard to write but for once, I did not have to labour much. Ever since I was a child, I wanted to study the service records of Indian soldiers particularly in the colonial era, probably because I had grown up listening to stories of my great grandfather, Lance Naik Phangan Singh, and his heroics in WW1 for which he was conferred with an Indian Order of Merit by the British. Amidst the countless episodes of unmatched bravery of Indian troops that I came across, the Battle of Saragarhi in particular caught my attention. As a consequence, I started to collect facts and data on the heroic stand taken by the 21 gallant Sikh soldiers against 10,000 Afghan tribesmen. To write a book on the battle, however, was a whole different task altogether.
At the outset, I express my gratitude to Suhail Mathur of the Book Bakers Literary Agency. When one is blessed with a literary agent as adamant and visionary as Suhail, one goes on to do the least expected things in the most unexpected ways. ‘Write it and finish it in the given time, and do not worry, I am there,’ was his reply to my ‘I don’t think we can do it’. This was, however, only half the push required; the other half came from my co-author, Kirandeep Singh, an extremely artistic and learned man whose energy to work on this subject was even greater than mine. Together, we form a team and I cannot thank him enough for leading this team responsibly towards its objective.
I also express my gratitude to our publishers, Bloomsbury India, and our editor Prerna Vohra for believing in us and giving us an opportunity to present the story of this saga to the world.
The credit for the very first kickstart required for this book goes to Kuldeep sir and the entire team of officers of 4 Sikh (erstwhile 36th Sikhs). One evening, over a cup of coffee, I remember having questioned Kuldeep sir about the meaning of a Punjabi song he would sing at occasions: ‘Beri naal ne ber hunde, aive ta nai kisse ban’de, asi sachi haan sher hunde (Legends they say about us aren’t untrue for we truly belong to the race of lions).’ He stated that ‘4 Sikh’ was the proud legatee of the 36th Sikhs and they were the successors of the brave 21 soldiers of the Saragarhi saga. This was when I realized I could ask him and his unit to help me with the research for this book and, humble as he is, he agreed at once. Also, I would like to thank Rahul Harmon Sir for introducing me to Kuldeep sir. The battalion’s consistent help throughout the research would not have been possible without the consent of their Commanding Officer, so I thank Colonel S.K. (full name withheld) for his quick response to all our requests. My access to the information we required was through the young and vibrant officer RR (name withheld for privacy reasons) who was always available even at odd hours of the night. You were tolerant, my friend.
I take this opportunity to extend my heartiest gratitude to Lieutenant General S.K. Jha, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, Colonel of the Sikh Regiment, whose motivating message for this book powered me to deliver my best to live up to the expected standards.
The story of the Battle of Saragarhi has been made into a period drama motion picture named Kesari, starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Anurag Singh, who was humble enough to compliment us for our book on the subject. I thank him profoundly for the same.
The list of those who contributed to the compilation, collation and writing of this book – or who, at some point in time, have supported me in my endeavours – is long but I do not intend to miss even one name. To that end, I would like to express my gratitude to Vasu Sir, Y.K. Singh sir, Saikat Sarkar sir, Sanjeev Dewan sir, Pankaj Sir, Geetika ma’am, Arnavaz ma’am, Shweta ma’am, Bhaavna Arora ma’am, Vishal Thapa sir, Aditya sir, Arun sir, Jaiman sir, Hemant sir, Chirag sir, Ravi sir, Amandeep sir, Goregaonkar A.P. sir; my course mates Akshay Tikkar, Mohit Kadyan, Kolli Sudheer, Gauravjit, Ashutosh, Shaleen, Ankur Agnihotri, Nirmala, Pupinder, Shivam; my friends and cousins, Sajan, Suraj, Pranav, Ashish, Ravish, Ha
rpreet, Rajwinder, Parth, Mohit, Nitin, Tanya, Sushim, Arpit, Sakshi Koul, Baljeet Singh Maan, Kuljeet Singh Maan, Harminderjit, Rohan; my mama ji(s), Parshotam Mahajan, Pawan Gupta, Chander Mahajan Sukesh Mahajan, Yash Mahajan; my sister, Kimi; my love and my personal critic, Aarushi; and my stress-relieving fur-babies Scooby and Sultan.
Perseverance and passion are inherent qualities passed on to me by my parents and my grandmother and I can never thank them enough for all that they have done for me. To them, I owe everything.
Lastly, I thank Waheguru for protecting me and making me capable enough to follow my passions in life.
Kirandeep Singh Phul
I would like to begin by stating that I feel honoured to have been given this opportunity to put the heroic saga of the 21 bravehearts of Saragarhi into words. I could not have worked on this book without the help of my co-author, Nirvan Singh, an extraordinary human being. I am grateful to Suhail Mathur of the Book Bakers Literary Agency for putting his faith in us, and to BIoomsbury for once again giving us an opportunity to publish a book with them after Nasteya: The Aryan Saga, which was released in December 2018. I thank Prerna Vohra for going through the arduous task of editing our book, and doing it outstandingly. Further, I am indebted to my grandfather Dr Gurdial Singh Phul and my parents, S. Rabinder Singh Phul and Ramjit Kaur, for instilling storytelling skills in me. These skills are polished daily by my son, Pavitdeep Singh, who doesn’t sleep without a new bedtime story every night. I hope for this phenomenon to continue even as he grows up.
Whenever a writer formulates a new plot, he needs someone who would listen to it and assess it and, thankfully, my wife, Jiwan Jyoti; my friends, Vikas Mittal, Tejinder Pal Singh (JP), Ranjit Singh, Gursahib Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Simranjit Walia, Dr Narender Sharma; and my elder brother S. Amandeep Singh Phul served as my soundboards.
We could not have come this far without the invaluable support of Harbir Singh, Nakul Malik, Professor S.K. Arora, Professor Charanjit Singh, Irwanpreet Singh and Neha Sharma, and I thank all of them profusely for their help. I would also like to thank S. Jaspal Singh and Dr Sangeet Phul, S. Satpal Singh and Jasbir Kaur, along with the whole Mattewal family for always tolerating me while I wrote and hosting my untimely meals as and when needed.